Making holes in wood is achieved using several types of wood boring devices which are shown below.

Boring all the way through with larger bits can cause severe splintering on the back side of the work. You should bore into the wood until the spike on the bit just shows through on the reverse side, then turn the work round and bore through from the other side, this prevents any splitting. See the diagram above.

When holes above about 13mm need to be drilled in timber it is normal to use one of the boring bits shown below. The Forstner will give a flat bottomed hole if you do not drill all the way through.

If very large holes are require then either a tank cutter can be used or a hole saw. The tank cutter is a single tool that can be adjusted to cut holes of different sizes. The hole saws are bought in sets. The central part remains the same but the saw and its holder have to be changed for each different sized hole.